see_the_world7

We will be renting a car for a little over 3 weeks in June and July for 2 adults and 2 children. We plan to pick up and return to Christchurch airport. I see that there are the normal rental companies, but wondered if anyone would recommend one over the other for New Zealand? Do any provide snow chains as part of the rental? Any experience good or bad with any particular company? Or, are there any local companies that might be just as good but less expensive that won't show up on my regular Orbitz search?

We were thinking it would be wise to rent from a company with branches outside of Christchurch so just in case there was a problem there would be an office not too far away.

Thanks for the feedback!

Melnq8

We like APEX. Regardless of which rental car company you choose, I'd suggest contacting them before booking to make sure they weren't affected by the earthquake.

Barbara_2

Second the recommendation for Apex. We rented from them back in November/December. Picked up at Picton and returned to Christchurch airport. Rented a Ford Focus, 2006 model, completely problem free, well priced, friendly staff at check-in and return. Just had a quick look at their website and their Christchurch airport office is up and running though the city centre office is closed.

The Christchurch airport rental return office was a short distance from the airport, they bussed us into the terminal. Can't comment about snow chains, we didn't need them!!

mlgb

Apex and Avis are the two companies I have used consistently. Avis sometimes is quite competitive if you have a discount from an airline, Costco, etc.

see_the_world7

Right now the best deal I'm finding is with Avis (using a discount code through my insurance). I'll keep looking through. Right now the specials on the Apex website only run through March so maybe they'll have something closer to the time we are traveling. We would be picking the car up at the airport itself (not Christchurch city center) so I would think most would be fine (at least by June). We'll double check closer to the date though.

Melnq8

My understanding is that APEX will let you leave the car at the airport for a fee, that's what we're hoping to do.

mlgb

My experience with Avis has been excellent, their cars tended to be outfitted to a higher level, eg cruise control, cover for the trunk. They are also newer.

Although I have had no problem with Apex they do have fewer offices, and generally you are getting an older car, you may wind up with a larger car with not so great gas mileage.

tcleaner

Just got back from NZ. We used Apex and Jucy,would
recommend both companies.

PJTravels

We have used both Apex and Hertz. Last year Hertz was more competitive for a new car, the year before Apex was a much better deal. We have picked up in Christchurch, returned to the airport - get directions as it is off airport; picked up in Queenstown, dropped in Picton; picked up in Wellington, dropped at Auckland airport. No problems any of the times. We didn't take the car on the ferry to Wellington as we were spending 3 nights in town and didn't need the car. I believe Apex was offering a deal to pay the ferry fee if you took the car from South Island to the North Island.

SB_Travlr

We rented a great car from Apex for our 4 weeks in NZ -- Cape Reinga to Bluff! We started in Auckland: they picked us up at our hotel in the car we would be renting (so the luggage got loaded) and drove us to their downtown office to complete the paperwork. Formalities were easy, and we were soon on our way.

We had a 2006 Ford Focus that was great -- no problems, good mileage, fit the two of us comfortably with our luggage. We were so fond of the car that we'd consider buying one back in the USA! Rental included car fee for the ferry from Wellington to Picton (not passenger fees) and a GPS for $3/day.

We dropped the car at Queenstown airport after covering 3500 km. Got an email from them the last night of our trip, asking where the car was -- I'd selected the wrong return date when I made the reservation. Oops, my bad. I called to let them know we'd be returning it the next morning, and it was no problem -- they just added the charge for the extra day's rent. Highly recommend Apex, (and we had agonized over the decision for ages!)